A Silent Fury (13 page)

C
atelyn decided to leave Joseph to the questioning. As soon as he was finished, she knew he'd call her. She had to get to the nursing home. Her mother expected her to be on time.

Actually, her mother seemed to be slipping more and more into her own little world and Catelyn wondered if she'd even notice her daughter was running about thirty minutes late.

Bounding up the steps and through the automatic sliding doors, she waved to the nurse behind the desk. “Hi, Thea.”

“Hi, Catelyn.”

“Sorry I'm late. I'm working a case that doesn't seem to have stopping points.”

A sympathetic smile flashed across Thea's face. “I understand. She's awake and seems to be having a good day today. Much better than yesterday.”

“Great, thanks.” She hurried down the hall to the second room on the left and slowly opened the door. “Mom?”

“Catelyn, is that you?”

A good day. Her mother remembered she was coming, was waiting on her. Catelyn slipped into the room and blinked at the sight of her mother. Always she seemed to age a little more between each visit. In no way did she resemble the vibrant young woman pictured in the wedding photo that Catelyn had
thrown across her den. White hair had obliterated the shining blond strands that used hang in carefully groomed waves. Her clear blue eyes had the look of confusion more often than not now.

But not today. Today Marilyn Clark's gaze landed on Catelyn with a shrewdness Catelyn hadn't seen in weeks.

“Sorry I'm late,” Catelyn said as she entered the room.

“Big case?” The fact that Catelyn now worked as member of the same force her mother had served on was a huge source of pride for the woman.

“Yes.” She changed the subject. “Here. I brought you something.”

Her mother took the album from Catelyn and studied it. “I haven't seen this in years.”

“Thea said you asked for it.”

“I did?”

“Must have.”

Her mom opened the book and looked at the first few pictures. Without raising her head, she said, “We had some good times, didn't we?”

Catelyn sighed. “Some.” She shifted, uneasiness twisting within her. “You look like you're feeling good today.”

Setting the album to the side, her mom said, “I'd feel better if you'd tell me what you're working on.”

So Catelyn did, falling into the routine of acting like everything was fine and that the past hadn't happened, that her parents hadn't destroyed each other with Catelyn suffering the effects of their selfishness. Instead, she pretended, played the dutiful daughter, didn't vent, didn't ask why they hadn't loved her more than…

Pulling in a deep breath, she finished her account of the case. By this time, two hours had passed and Catelyn itched to leave.

Then her mother did something she hadn't done since she'd been in the nursing home. She reached over and clasped Catelyn's hand. Startled, Catelyn looked at her mother. The woman had never been big on affection and hadn't reached out for a voluntary touch in years. “Mom?”

“I'm sorry.”

Heart thudding, Catelyn started at her mother. “What?”

Tears built in those aging blue eyes, and her mom looked away, giving a small sniff. “I'm sorry.”

Perplexed, Catelyn stepped around to gaze at this woman she'd called mother all her life, but didn't really know. “For what?” She figured she was treading on thin ice, but had to know what her mother was sorry for.

“For what we did to you,” came the quietest whisper.

Pain shafted through her. Why now? What had incited her to bring this up now?

“It's—” she couldn't say it was all right because it wasn't, but “—it's in the past, Mom. Just…forget it.”

“I can't. I know I will soon as a result of this horrid disease, but while I'm thinking clearly…” She pulled Catelyn closer. “I'm sorry. Will you ever find it in your heart to be able to forgive us?”

Lightning zapping her wouldn't have shocked her more. What did she say?

Say, I forgive you,
she told herself.

Say it.

Her throat worked, her lips moved, but she couldn't vocalize the words. Too much hurt rested within her. Instead, she pushed the words through her tight throat and whispered, “Did you know what Daddy was going to do that night? Did you know he was going to put that gun in his mouth and pull the trigger?”

Her mother flinched, her chin wobbled. “No. I promise, I didn't know.”

A whimper escaped Catelyn, but she leaned down and placed her forehead against her mother's. Anger, hurt and resentment battled within her, but the need to feel her mother's arms around her won out over her need to express her rage at this helpless woman. “I want to forgive you. Hug me,” she pleaded. “Just…love me.”

Slowly, thin, wiry arms lifted and wound around Catelyn's stronger, youthful form.

And for the first time that she could remember in a very long time, her mother hugged her.

Catelyn sobbed on her shoulder and thought she heard the words “I do love you.”

 

Joseph stepped back from the room. Catelyn wouldn't appreciate it if she knew he'd followed her here.

He'd walked down to the room to find Catelyn in her mother's arms, sobbing out enough tears to fill Lake Bowen. Heart aching for her, wanting to be a part of the solution to her problem, he turned to go back to the waiting area.

“Joseph?”

Uh-oh. Caught.

He did a one-eighty back to face the door. She stood in the doorway wiping her eyes, looking about fourteen years old.

“Hey, sorry. Look, I didn't mean to interrupt…”

“What are you doing here?”

“I decided to come over after we finished up with Mr. Hathaway. Plus, I got the text message information from Zachary's phone for the day of the funeral. Thought you might want to see it. And, we need to track down Billy again.”

She sniffed. “You have really rotten timing, you know that?”

“But a great sense of direction.”

A chuckle escaped her. She wasn't mad at him. Relaxing a fraction, he opened his arms. “Need a hug?”

More tears flooded her eyes at the question, but she shook her head. “No. I need to get back to work. We need to go over those text messages.”

“You can take a few minutes.”

She sucked in a deep breath. “What else did you learn after I left?”

“Quite a bit, actually. I called to check on Zachary again, too. He's still in a coma, although the doctors are more enthusiastic about his waking up sometime in the near future. I told them to call us as soon as he starts to stir.”

“Excellent.”

“I've still got a guard on his door just in case the person who shot him decides to finish the job. He says the kid has some regular visitors like Coach Dillard and some of the other players, but it's been quiet with no problems.”

“Good.” Another deep breath and she was fairly composed.

He wished she'd taken him up on his offer of a hug. “Hungry?”

She nodded. “Starving. Have we stopped to eat today?”

“I don't remember.”

She gave another laugh. “Then I'd say it's time.”

“Let's grab something while we wait on a search warrant for the Hathaway residence.”

“Tyler gave you enough for that?”

“Yep. Just waiting on the call.”

They hurried out to their cars, Catelyn following behind Joseph back into town. They decided on a pizza place that served buffet style.

Joseph settled into the booth opposite her and admired the way she could be tough and delicate all at the same time. Strong on the streets, yet ate her pizza with all the grace of a lady. He smiled. His dad was right. Catelyn was different from his mother, but a man would be blessed to be loved by her. He cleared his throat.

“Did you have a good visit with your mother?”

She paused, pizza hanging in the air in front of her mouth. Then she deliberately took a bite and chewed.

Joseph just waited.

She swallowed and looked him in the eye. “It was interesting.”

“Emotional?”

“To say the least.”

“Are you going to share it with me?”

His phone rang, interrupting her answer. He winced, but snatched it up. “Hello?”

Catelyn swallowed the last of her water and watched Joseph give her the thumbs-up. He hung up. “We've got our search warrant and a team's on the way to the house. They'll meet us there with a copy of Zachary's text messaging log for the last week. We can see if any number stands out.”

She tossed some bills on the table. “Let's go.”

Joseph added his money and they took off out the door.

Catelyn watched the scenery whiz by.

Soon, they pulled in behind a black-and-white cruiser. Joseph stepped out. “Anyone home?”

The uniformed officer shook his head. “Not that we can see. No one's answering the door, anyway.”

Joseph and Catelyn approached the house. Catelyn said, “Knock it in.”

“What's going on?”

They turned at the sound of the voice coming from the street. A gentleman in his early fifties stood at the curb, two officers blocking his approach. Catelyn strode over to him. “Who are you, sir?”

“I'm David Hathaway. This is my house.”

“We've been trying to get in touch with you. We have your son in custody and have a search warrant for this property.”

Outrage turned the man's face a scary shade of purple. He exploded. “What do you mean you have my son in custody! Why wasn't I contacted? Where is he and no, you can't search this property!”

The two officers placed their hands on their weapons. Catelyn held up a soothing hand. “Sir, if you'll just calm down…”

“I will not calm down. What is the meaning of this?”

Catelyn explained the situation, adding the fact that his son's DNA had been found on the hat left in her house and they had tried to call to inform him but hadn't been able to reach him. Then she asked, “Will you please open the door?”

By the end of her explanation, the man's face had gone through several different shades of red to wind up a pasty white.

Without another word, he approached the house and opened the door. Stepping back, he waved them in.

Joseph asked, “Do you have any idea where Tyler might hide any stolen goods?”

“No, of course not. When can I see my son?”

“You're welcome to go down to the jail anytime.”

A shout from the garage pulled Catelyn and Joseph in that direction. An officer led them through the garage into the backyard and over to a shed sitting on the corner of the property.

“Crammed full, Detective.”

Catelyn stuck her head in and gasped. “Wow.”

Tyler's father had followed. “What in the world? Where did all this come from?”

Joseph looked at him. “I take it you don't ever come out here?”

The man never took his eyes from the goods in the shed. He slowly shook his head. “Never. Once I started working so
many hours, I hired a yard service that comes once a week. They have their own supplies. Tyler has some pretty bad allergies so I never asked him to do anything outside.” He took in the scene again. “I can't believe this.”

Joseph sighed. “What you want to bet this is related to all of the break-ins we've been having over on the west side of town?”

“I do believe you could be right,” Catelyn agreed.

“All right, I'll call the guys in charge of that case and we'll let them come take a look.”

“Hey, Joseph, look over there. A flip-flop and a backpack. Looks kind of out of place in all of those stolen goods. I sure would like to know who those belong to.”

“Definitely.”

 

Two hours later, they had matched up the flip-flop with the one found at the crime scene. It belonged to Kelly Franklin. Surprisingly enough, the backpack was Billy's, Kelly's brother. Once again, they had the third-shift crime-scene guys working overtime.

Joseph turned to Catelyn. “I think we need to find Billy and see what he has to say about his backpack being in that storage shed.”

Catelyn stifled a yawn. “Sounds good to me.” She glanced at her watch and groaned. 9:00. It was going to be another late night.

Joseph was eyeing her like he wanted to say something else. Not up to a big discussion, she slid around him and out the door, calling over her shoulder. “Come on, let's get going.”